Gross domestic product and main aggregates

Gross domestic product (GDP) measures the domestic production of goods and services after deduction of intermediate inputs and is obtained from the sum total of contributions by individual economic branches (“gross value added at basic prices”) plus taxes on products less subsidies on products (production approach). However it can also be represented as the sum total of final use (consumption, investments and exports) minus imports (expenditure approach), or as the sum total of compensation of employees, gross operating surplus/gross mixed income and consumption of fixed capital plus taxes less subsidies on production and imports (income approach).

Gross national income is a politically significant value since it represents a calculation basis for the EU’s own funds financing. It results from the gross domestic product adjusted by the balance of cross-border primary incomes.

Adjusting gross domestic product by consumption of fixed capital, the balance of primary incomes and current transfers from and to the rest of the world yields the national disposable income.

Aggregates at constant prices are calculated on the basis of previous year’s prices in accordance with EU undertakings. Chained volume indices are used to represent time series. At the quarterly level the calculation at constant prices is based on the methodology of quarterly overlap (using the fourth quarter of the previous year as link for chained series).